Fig 1.
Flowchart overview of the modelling approach.
Two dynamic models, calibrated to replicate prior results, evaluate parasite population dynamics in the sand fly vector. These can be used as part of larger simulations to obtain insights into Leishmania transmission.
Table 1.
Table of default model parameter values.
Fig 2.
Replicating the results of [7] and [11].
A) Comparison of the numbers of metacyclics (top) and retroleptomonads (bottom) at specific days throughout the lifespan of the simulated flies. Blue represents flies that bite only at day 0, orange represents flies that take a subsequent blood meal at day 12. The two categories are combined prior to day 12. B) Number of simulated sand flies considered infectious at 7 days post-infection for RAG mice 10-18, parameterised according to Doehl et al. (see S1 Table.).
Fig 3.
Retroleptomonad dynamics dominate over skin heterogeneity and result in elevated mean R0 values.
Heatmaps of the mean R0 for simulated sand flies for both Model A (left half) and B (right half) with 100% (top half) or 25% (bottom half) chance of biting an infected host. Note that each model utilises a different scale for clarity.
Fig 4.
Retroleptomonad dominance is dependent on having a sufficiently large maximum lifespan.
A, B) Heatmaps of the mean R0 for simulated sand flies in Model B with 100% chance of biting an infected host and with lifespans restricted to 20 days (A) or 15 days (B). Crosses indicate the mean skin parasite burden and skin homogeneity of various mice from [7]. C) Mean R0 value against maximum lifespan for RAG mice 1-18 from Doehl et al. [7] (S1 Table).